He's Back
by Lnkz
Summary: Jess Comes Back. Rory Deals.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer:  I own nothing but the story idea.

~~  
  
It has been a few months since _he_ left and everything was good. I started Yale, Mom and Sookie are almost ready to open The Dragonfly, everything was great. But all that changed last Friday.  
  
I walked into Doose's to pick up some stuff, Mom and I were having a movie night. I picked up everything I needed, Red Vines, Ice cream, all the essential junk foods for movie night at the Gilmore house. I started to check out but then noticed that I forgot something.  "Can you watch this stuff for me I just need to run and grab something real fast?" I asked the cashier. I walked back toward the aisle that I needed but as I rounded corner there he was...Jess.

  
"Jess," I said completely shocked to see him standing right in front of me.

  
"Rory," He said almost as shocked as I was to see him.  
  


We just stood there staring at each other for a while but I decided to break the silence.

  
"So how have you been?"  I asked.

  
He picked up a box and stared at it like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.  "Good," he said still not talking his eyes off of the box.

  
"Well that's good, I'm glad," I said still shocked to see him there and also a little upset that he couldn't even look me in the eyes to talk.

  
"Yep," he said squirming a little now, probably wanted to leave.

  
"Well I should get going; my mom is waiting for me," I told him.  
  
So that is what I did.  I left the market in such a hurry I didn't even stop to get any of my bags.

  
When I got home Mom was sitting on the couch watching T.V.

  
"Hey, what took you so long, how much stuff did you get?"  
  


That's when she turned around and saw me.  
  


"Mom," I said starting to cry as she hurried over to me and pulled me into a big hug.

  
"Aww, Sweetie what happened?" she asked as she led me over to the couch.

  
"He's back," I told her trying to stop calm down.

  
"Who's back?" she asked a little confused.

  
"Jess...Jess is back.  I ran into him at the market."

  
"Ohh," she said a little shocked.  "Did he say anything to you?"

  
"No, I asked him how he was and all he said was 'good' and he wouldn't even look me in the eyes he picked up a box and just stared at it like it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen." I told her now starting to cry again.  
  


"Oh, Sweetie," she said as she put a pillow on her lap for me to lay my head down.  
  
Mom ordered us a pizza and I just lay there and cried.  I didn't want to but I just couldn't help it. "Why did he have to come back!"


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer:  I don't own anything but the story idea.

~~

I walked into Doose's a little while after she did. I couldn't believe that I was so stupid! I couldn't even look her in the eyes to talk to her.

  
"What is wrong with me?" I said to myself. 

I walked around town, which looked exactly the same as it did when I left, needing to clear my head. After awhile I decided I needed to go talk to Luke.  I walked into the diner but didn't see Luke anywhere. Everything looked exactly the same here, too. The lunch crowed was in so it was pretty busy, Caesar was cooking as always but since Luke wasn't around he was also taking orders and busing all the tables. I walked through the diner and up the steps. Everyone was starring at me like I had just come back from the dead. I walked up to the apartment and knocked on the door.

  
"I'll be down in a minute, Caesar will take your order," I heard Luke say.

  
I knocked again.

  
"I said I'll be down in a minute!" I heard him yell, sounding like he was getting angry.  

  
I knocked one more time, finding this very amusing.

  
"What part of 'one minute' don't you understand?" he said as he opened the door.

  
"Jess," His face looked like Rory's when she saw me.

  
"Luke," I said.  
  
He let me in and I looked around the apartment.  Everything was in the same place as when I left.  Even some of my stuff was still laying around, a few books and cd's.  I walked over to the couch and sat down across from Luke. He looked the same as he always did, flannel shirt, jeans, and of course his backwards baseball cap.

  
"So what are you doing here Jess?" he asked me.  
  


"What, I can't come and visit my favorite Uncle?" I asked him.  
  


"Jess," he said with a warning in his voice that he didn't want to play games. "Are you in trouble?"

  
"No I'm not in trouble," I told him  
  


"Well I'm sorry I don't understand then! You leave here what a few month's ago, not telling me where you were going.  No phone calls to let me know you were ok and now all of a sudden you show up here, you must need something," he said.

  
"I want to come back," I said very softly.

  
"What?" he asked not hearing me.  
  


"I said I want to come back!"  
  


Luke took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair.  
  


"You want to come back," he said in disbelief.  
  


"Yes," I said quiet again.  
  


"Well, I don't know if I can do that again, Jess. We had a deal last time and you broke it," he said to me.

  
I didn't say anything for a minute and just stared at my hands.  
  


"Well I'm sorry I wasted your time Luke," I told him as I started to get up.  
  


"Wait." I paused for a minute "If I give you another chance I need a promise things will be a whole lot different. No staying out late and coming home at three in the morning, no smoking, no stealing, and you will work in the diner until close." He told me very seriously.  I just stood there in complete shock that he was actually going to let me stay.

  
"Do we have a deal?" he asked sticking his hand out.  
  


"Yeah," I said as I shook his hand.  
  


"Ok, well, your stuff is still in your room I didn't touch anything you can go put your things away and then come downstairs cause I need you help for dinner," He told me as he went back downstairs.  
  


I went and put my stuff in my room and headed downstairs, too.  I hate to admit it but I'm actually glad to be back.


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer:  I don't own anything but the story idea.

A/N:  Luke is a teensy bit ooc in this chapter, but it's just to move the story along.  Also, thank you so much to the reviewers!  It really means a lot.

~~

The next day Lorelai and Rory walked through a very cold but beautiful Stars Hollow. The snow covered everything. They were on their way to  
Luke's as they did every morning for breakfast.

Rory was still upset about what happened yesterday with Jess and almost didn't go just in case he was there, but then decided that he was probably just there to pick up his stuff and would be leaving again soon so she decided to go after all. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case when they got to the diner.  
  
The girls walked in, got their regular table and waited for Luke to come and take their order but he was nowhere to be found. 

"I wonder were Luke is," commented Lorelai as she looked around the busy diner.

  
Just as she spoke Luke and Jess came down the stairs and Jess got a pad of paper and went to take someone's order.

  
"Oh my god!" Lorelai blinked, shocked at what she was seeing.

  
"What….What is it?" Rory asked, trying to see what her mother was talking about.

  
"What is he doing? He is not supposed to be here!" Rory said, getting  
upset.

  
Just then Luke came over to take their orders. "Hey, what can I get you guys? I have the blueberry pancakes this morning," he tempted them.

  
"Uh, Luke can I talk to you for a minute?" Lorelai asked, clearly upset.

  
"Sure, we can go upstairs," he replied, knowing what she was upset about as he led the way up to the apartment.

  
When they got there Luke led her to the couch were they sat.

  
"So what's up?" Luke asked, expecting the worst.

  
"What is he doing here?" Lorelai demanded, getting straight to the point.

  
"Excuse me?" Luke asked, irritated.

"Jess," she clarified. "What is Jess doing here? Since when?"

  
"Since today, actually, but why does it matter? He's is here and is staying, end of story." Luke said matter-of-factly. 

  
"It matters because I have a heart-broken girl down there who is very upset over the fact that he's here!" She told him.

  
"Yes, I know that Rory is having a hard time with this whole thing and I care about her, but he's family and everything is going to be different now, you have to believe me." Luke said, trying to explain.

  
"Really? And how can you be so sure about that, Luke?" she asked.

  
"I just know," he told her.

  
"Yeah, well, I hope you're right. I have to go. I have get back down there. I'll talk to you later," Lorelai said as she left the apartment.


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing but the story line!

A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I have had a little  
writer's block and haven't been able to come up with anything lately. But  
finally sat myself down and wrote this Chapter so I hope everyone likes  
it.

~~

This has been the worst week for Rory. She hasn't been into Luke's at  
all, she either had her Mom get take out or if Lorelai went to Luke's to  
bring her back something. But this weekend she had finally had enough  
she couldn't just never go to Luke's again so that Saturday Lorelai and  
her went.

  
"Now are you sure you want to go in, cause you can just wait out here  
and I could just run in real fast and get our stuff and we could go  
home?" Lorelai asked her not wanting to go through another Rory  
breakdown from seeing Jess.  
  


"Yes, I'm sure I can't let him ruin everything I'm going in." She said as  
she opened the diner door.  
  
The bell above the door jingled and Luke looked up from what he was  
doing to see who it was.  
  


He watched as the girls walked in and sat down at their usual table. He  
was happy to see Rory out and about and she was laughing which was  
something he hadn't seen her do in a while.  
  


He walked over to their table.  
  


"Hello girls, Rory it's nice to see you I've missed you around here" He  
told her with a smile.  
  


"Plus your mother has been driving me crazy, Its nice to have someone  
sane in here"   
  


"Oh, Lukey, you know you love my craziness and you wouldn't know what to  
do without me" she teased.  
  


Luke just rolled his eyes at her but was thinking how true that really  
was.  
  


"So what can I get you guys?" He asked getting out his pen and pad.  
  


"I will have French Toast with a side of bacon and hashbrowns please."  
Rory told him.  
"I will have pancakes, bacon, and two eggs scrambled. And of course the  
most important part of any meal coffee!" Said Lorelai with a smile.  
Luke just shook his head and went to get their orders.  
  
Just as soon as he walked into the back Jess walked down the stairs.  
Lorelai noticed Rory was getting a little uncomfortable.  
  


"Honey are you..." She started to say but was cut off.  
  


"I'm fine! I am going to sit here and eat my breakfast," She said trying  
to keep her attention on anything other than Jess.   
  


Luke had finally brought their food and that had helped a little bit.  
  
Jess had been trying his hardest not to go over to their table but he  
decided that he couldn't ignore them forever and he had heard Lorelai  
say she needed more coffee, so he walked over to the table.  
  


"When I passed you awhile ago I heard you say you needed more coffee so  
here you go" He said as he poured coffee into their mugs.  
  


"Thanks" Rory told him but Lorelai didn't say anything she just stared  
at him.  
  


"No problem" He said as he walked away to get another order.  
  


"I can't believe him!" Lorelai said getting mad.  
  


"He just came over to us like nothing ever happened"  
  


"Uh Huh" Rory said not paying any attention to what her mom just said.  
She was watching Jess.  
  


"Rory? Are you alright?" She asked waving her hands in front of her  
face.  
  
Rory's trance was broken by Lorelai's hands.  
  


"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine" She said now turning her attention back to her  
Mom.  
  


"Are you ready to get out of here? I need to run to the inn and check on  
a few things" Lorelai asked her.  
  


"You go ahead I will meet you back at home I'm going to get more coffee  
and probably go read, I just need to clear my head" She told her.  
"All right, well I guess I will just see you later then." She said but  
she knew something was going on she just couldn't put her finger on it  
so she let it slide and kissed Rory on the head and left.  
  
Rory got up and walked over to the over to the counter where Luke was  
standing.  
  


"Hey Luke can I get a coffee to go please?" She asked.  
  


"Sure, here you go" He said handing her the cup.  
  


"Thanks, I will talk to you later" She told him and then left.  
  
Jess watched her leave and noticed she wasn't going home she was walking  
in a different direction and he knew exactly where she was going.  
  


"Luke I'm taking my break now, I'll be back in awhile." He said as he  
left not giving Luke enough time to ask where he was going.  
  
Rory had finally got to the spot she always went when she wanted to  
think, The Bridge, she took out her book and started reading.  
  


Jess finally caught up to her and just watched her read. This used to be  
their spot; they would come and read together and then discuss and  
debate on the books they were reading. He missed those days and he  
missed her.  
  


Finally he worked up enough nerve to go up to her.  
  


"Is this seat taken?" He asked pointing to the spot next to her and  
hoping she wouldn't leave or tell him to go away.  
  


"Nope" Was all she could say nothing else would come out.  
  


"I was wondering if we could talk," He asked as he sat down next to her.


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I Don't own anything.   
"Depends." she said putting her book down.  
  
"Please, just let me say what I have to say and then I will leave you alone."  
  
"Fine, go ahead."  
  
"Rory, I know I have acted like a jerk to you I just wanted to say thatI am sorry. I'm not going to give you a thousand excuses because therearen't any, but I just hope you will except my apology."  
  
Rory just sat taking everything in, the apology, and that he was actually sitting right there next to her.  
  
"Rory, did you hear me?"  
  
Finally she spoke, and asked the question he knew was coming."Why did you leave? That hurt me more than anything else."  
  
Taking a deep breath in he answered her. "Because, I love you." He said in a whisper she could barely hear.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I left because I love you, and I got scared," He told her looking into her eyes for the first time since he had beenback. They sat in silence for what seemed like an hour.  
  
"I accept your apology," she told him getting up to leave. Jess sat there and watched her go. He couldn't belive it. She actually forgave him.  
  
When Rory got home, she walked right past her mom and right into her room. Lorelai got up from the couch and followed her.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked sitting next to her on the bed.  
  
"I'm fine." she said but that was a lie because she didn't really know how she felt. Lorelai could tell she was lying but wasn't going to push her. When she was ready to talk she would." Okay, well I need to run to the inn for awhile I will be back, call the cell if you need anything." "I will, bye."  
  
Lorelai left still worrying about Rory, she wasn't sure why she was acting the way she was but she had a feeling it has to do with a certain guy. 


	6. Chapter Six

Sorry it took so long for me to update. I haven't been in the writing mood. But I decided I needed to get another chapter up so I hope enjoy it.

I would also like to give a giant thanks to Kasey for always being there if I had a question and just helping me out with this chapter or all the chapters for that matter. Thanks a Ton! You are the Best! I do it for the Cookie! LOL!

xx

The next few days Rory had thought about a lot of things. She thought about how everything used to be. How Jess and she used to read and debate on the bridge, how she got him to do things he wouldn't ever have done before like getting dressed up and going out on fancy dates. She realized she really missed all that and wanted it back and now she could have it and she didn't want anything to ruin it. The only bad thing about all of this was that her mom hated Jess and there wasn't anyway to convince Lorelai that he was good for her. But she needed to try anyway.

At the Gilmore house Lorelai was in the living room on the couch trying to find something to watch on TV. Rory walked in, she had just got back from seeing Jess. She finally told him about all the stuff she had been thinking about and like her, he was happy she was going to give her another chance. "Rory is that you?" Lorelai yelled from the couch.

Rory walked in and sat on the couch next to her mom. "Can we talk?"

Lorelai tuned the TV off and turned her body to face Rory. "Sure, I'm all ears."

"Well..." Rory started trying to find the best way to word what she wanted to say.

"I want to talk about Jess." She said quickly.

Shaking her head, Lorelai tried to stop Rory from going to that subject. "Rory..."

"Mom please just listen to what I have to say." Rory said interrupting Lorelai.

"Fine, go ahead" Lorelai said knowing this was going to happen sooner or later.

"Thank you. Now I know you don't like Jess, you wish he would have never came back and stayed away forever, but he has changed so much."

"I doubt that." Lorelai said rolling her eyes. "Rory he left not telling you goodbye, not telling Luke goodbye, That little punk has no respect for anyone. He hurt so many people. I doubt he has changed that much." Lorelai stated matter-of-factly.

"Do you want to know why he left?" Rory asked.

"That doesn't matter, I hurt you and that's I all I care about!" Lorelai yelled getting more and more aggravated by the minute.

"It was because he loved me!" Rory yelled back.

"Oh Rory" Lorelai said shaking her head again. "He doesn't love you, you are just some kind of game to him."

"That's not true!" Rory yelled again.

"It is true. He doesn't love you Rory, he is just messing with you!" Lorelai exclaimed trying to get what she was saying through Rory's head.

"He does love me. Why would he come back here and tell me all this stuff then? Why would he come back to a town he hates and apologize for all the things he has done? Why would he come back and try to make things better with Luke?" Rory asked wishing her mother would try to understand what she was saying.

Lorelai stopped and just looked at Rory. She didn't want her to get hurt anymore and she didn't want to fight anymore. She knew Jess was trouble but there was know way to show Rory that. "Rory we are never going to agree on this, I just wish that you would believe me when I say he is no good." Lorelai said trying to calm down.

"You don't even know him. You don't want to get to know him so how can you say that he is no good?" Rory Exclaimed.

"Rory I don't want to fight about this anymore."

"Fine, I'm going for a walk I'll be back later." Rory said getting up off the couch.

There was nothing else Lorelai could do, she let Rory go. Maybe time to think about everything would change her mind about things.


End file.
